This research examines the practice of cryonics and provides empirical evidence for an improved understanding of the motivations and attitudes of participants. Cryonics is the freezing of a person who has died of a disease in hopes of restoring life at some future time when a cure may be available. So far, about 300 people have been cryopreserved, and an additional 1200 have enrolled in such programs. The current work has three vectors. First, the results of a worldwide cryonics survey (n = 316) carried out as part of this research are discussed. Second, a theoretical model is developed from the survey results to propose a Theory of Cryonic Life Extension which explains an individual’s decision to select cryopreservation. Third, the most distinctive survey result, a conceptualization of personal identity malleability, is extended with a philosophical formulation. Personal identity is found to be emergent, not fundamental, and thus may continue to evolve in concept and application, particularly in the longer time frames implicated by cryonics. The potential consequences of this work are that the conceptual norms materializing in the cryonics community could be forerunners of wider societal trends of how humans understand themselves as subjects in an era increasingly configured by science and technology.

中文翻译：

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全球人体冷冻学对身体、冷冻保存和复活的态度：个人身份的延展性和人体冷冻寿命延长理论

这项研究检验了人体冷冻术的实践，并为更好地理解参与者的动机和态度提供了经验证据。人体冷冻术是对死于疾病的人进行冷冻，以期在未来可能有治愈方法的时候恢复生命。到目前为止，大约有 300 人被冷冻保存，另有 1200 人参加了此类项目。目前的工作有三个向量。首先，讨论了作为本研究的一部分进行的全球人体冷冻学调查 (n = 316) 的结果。其次，根据调查结果建立了一个理论模型，提出了一种冷冻寿命延长理论，该理论解释了个人选择冷冻保存的决定。第三，最具特色的调查结果，个人身份延展性的概念化，用哲学公式扩展。个人身份被发现是新兴的，而不是基本的，因此可能会在概念和应用方面继续发展，特别是在人体冷冻术所涉及的更长的时间范围内。这项工作的潜在后果是，在人体冷冻学界具体化的概念规范可能是更广泛的社会趋势的先行者，在这个时代，人类如何将自己理解为越来越由科学和技术构成的主体。